The word suburb mostly refers to a residential area, either existing as part of a city (as in Australia and New Zealand, and generally in the United Kingdom) or as a separate residential community within commuting distance of a city (as in the United States and Canada). Some suburbs have a degree of administrative autonomy, and most have lower population density than inner city neighborhoods. Suburbs first emerged on a large scale in the 19th and 20th century as a result of improved rail and road transport, leading to an increase in commuting. Suburbs tend to proliferate around cities that have an abundance of adjacent flat land. Any particular suburban area is referred to as a suburb, while suburban areas on the whole are referred to as the suburbs or suburbia, with the demonym for a suburb-dweller being suburbanite. Colloquial usage sometimes shortens the term to burb.

The word is derived from the Old French subburbe, which is in turn derived from the Latin suburbium, formed from sub (meaning "under") and urbs ("city"). In Ancient Rome, wealthy and important people tended to live on the hills of the city, while poorer citizens lived at lower elevations – hence "under the city". The first recorded usage of the term in English, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, was made by John Wycliffe in 1380, where the form subarbis was used.

Julian Miles "Jools" Holland OBE, DL (born 24 January 1958) is an English pianist, bandleader, singer, composer, and television presenter. He was a founder of the band Squeeze (1974-1980 & 1985-1990) and his work has involved him with many artists including Sting, Eric Clapton, George Harrison, David Gilmour, Magazine and Bono.

Holland is a published author and appears on television shows besides his own and contributes to radio shows. In 2004, he collaborated with Tom Jones on an album of traditional R&B music. He currently hosts Later... with Jools Holland, a music-based show aired on BBC2, on which his annual show Hootenanny, is based.

His great grandfather came from Ireland.

Holland played as a session musician before finding fame, and his first studio session was with Wayne County & the Electric Chairs in 1976 on their track "F*ck Off."

Holland was a founding member of the British pop band Squeeze, formed in March 1974, in which he played keyboards until 1981 and helped the band to achieve millions of record sales, before pursuing his solo career.

Benjamin Scott "Ben" Folds (born September 12, 1966) is an American singer-songwriter and record producer. From 1995-2000, Folds was the frontman and pianist of the alternative rock band Ben Folds Five. Since the group disbanded, Folds has performed as a solo artist and has toured all over the world. He has also collaborated with musicians such as William Shatner, Regina Spektor and "Weird Al" Yankovic and undertaken experimental songwriting projects with authors such as Nick Hornby and Neil Gaiman. In addition to contributing music to the soundtracks of the animated films Over the Hedge, and Hoodwinked!, Folds produced Amanda Palmer's first solo album and has been a judge on the NBC a cappella singing contest The Sing-Off since 2009.

Folds became interested in piano at age nine. His father, a carpenter, brought one home through a barter trade with a customer who was unable to pay. During this time, Folds listened to songs by Elton John and Billy Joel on AM radio, and learned them by ear.^{[citation needed]} During his years at R.J. Reynolds High School in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, Folds played in several bands as the pianist, bassist, or drummer.

Ben Rector (born November 6, 1986, Tulsa, Oklahoma) is an American musician based in Nashville, Tennessee. His most recent record, Something Like This was released in September 2011. Through word of mouth the record charted at #1 on the iTunes Singer/Songwriter chart, and climbed above Lil Wayne’s Tha Carter IV to the #4 spot on iTunes,albums overall, bested only by Lady Antebellum’s same day release, Coldplay, and Adele. Rector’s songs have been featured on One Tree Hill, Drop Dead Diva, Pretty Little Liars, Teen Mom, ESPN SportsCenter, and ABC’s Modern Family fall promo.

Rector took piano lessons as a small child but did not begin pursuing music seriously until he picked up guitar and later songwriting in high school. He formed a band called Euromart the following year. Euromart made an EP and played club shows in Tulsa, but dissolved when the members left for college. After high school, Rector attended the University of Arkansas where he studied marketing. During his freshman year he released a self-titled EP that featured the song “Conversation”, which went on to win the Grand Prize in the pop category of the John Lennon Songwriting Contest in 2006. He is the youngest person ever to win the award for the pop category. The EP grew popular in surrounding states, and Rector began touring frequently on weekends and during breaks in the school year. In 2008 Rector released his first full-length record, Twenty Tomorrow, followed by Songs That Duke Wrote in 2009. In 2009 Rector was given the NAMA award for best singer songwriter in Northwest Arkansas. During his college career at the University of Arkansas he played approximately 200 shows. In June 2009 Rector moved to Nashville with his wife to pursue songwriting and to continue his career as an artist.

The Members are a British punk band that originated in Camberley, England. Their best known recording is "The Sound of the Suburbs" (1979).

The Members was formed by lyricist Nicky Tesco (Nick Lightowlers) in 1976, through an invited audition at a recording studio at Tooley Street, London. The original personnel, with Tesco (vocals), was Gary Baker (guitar), and Steve Morley (bass guitar), initially with Steve Maycock then Clive Parker (drums). Morley and Parker were later replaced by Chris Payne and Adrian Lillywhite.

In 1976, the band performed for its first engagements at The Red Cow (London W6), The Windsor Castle (London W9) and The Nashville Rooms (London W14). In that year composer Jean Marie Carroll (aka JC Carroll) joined the band to complement Tesco's lyrics. The Members had recorded a number of songs, but the first released recording was "Fear on the Streets", produced by Lillywhite's brother Steve Lillywhite. This song was included on the first record released by the Beggars Banquet label, the punk compilation, Streets (1977). The song-writing collaboration between Tesco and Carroll moved The Members' sound towards an incorporation of reggae, shown in the first single released for Stiff Records, "Solitary Confinement", produced by Larry Wallis. Following these releases, band personnel became Tesco (vocals), Carroll (vocals and guitar), Nigel Bennett (guitar), Payne (bass) and Lillywhite (drums).